What started last October ended yesterday evening with two full series of Red Dwarf recorded.

The last episode certainly did not disappoint. With fans talking about the episode being “mind blowing”, “nostalgic”, “emotional” and amazing.

All that is left to do now (besides CGI, post production, dubbing and adding the soundtrack, etc.) is a long wait until the series is finally aired.

In the meantime we thank Chris Barrie, Robert Llewellyn, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Doug Naylor and all the crew for all their hard work over the last six months.

Also a big thank you to all our amazing reporters over the last few weeks: we could not have done this without you!!

To end we wish a very happy birthday to Mr Robert Llewellyn!!

This weeks review by: Ali Green and Stephen Simpson

Ali Green

First of all I’ll just say that I’m going to be intentionally vague with some of the questions because this was a very special episode with a lot of treats for lifelong fans and I really don’t want to risk spoiling anything.

What episode can you most compare it to?

There is a much used sci-fi concept behind the plot which is played out to different effect in the first and second halves of the show. There is one episode it reminds me of very much but to mention which may veer too far into spoiler territory, so I’ll just say it is akin to both series I and II smile emoticon

Any stand out performances (from the cast)

All the cast were on top form. There is a slight focus on Rimmer in this show but it is very much an ensemble piece.

Any special guest stars or guest performances?

There were a number of guest cast, a couple of which will be very memorable to say the least!

Any interesting smeg ups/technical problems?

There were a lot of smeg ups throughout the night from all the cast, though this was explained by a last minute rewrite of some of the script which the cast had only seen that morning!
Chris was on great form and really seemed to be having a great time, as were all the cast.

Anything that caught your attention?

So many things caught my attention in this nostalgia fest. All I will mention is that there is a gag which very cleverly mirrors a gag from a long time ago in the show to great laugh out loud effect.
Will there be many special effects?

Yes there will be a few special effects, some were temporarily effects done on VTs of pre-recorded scenes.

Did it feel like an ending?

Where this didn’t feel like an ending as such it would be a perfect series finale if this does indeed turn out to be the final episode of series XII. It is very nostalgia heavy and if no more series of Red Dwarf get made after this it would be a perfect note to go out on.

I have been incredibly lucky to have been at three of the studio recordings from the two new series which have been experiences I’ll never forget. Whilst I was mostly pleased with series X it is very apparent that the quality of the shows I’ve seen greatly surpass this. Even a show which may have typically fallen into the “filler” category was incredibly fun with a lot of belly laughs! Fans should be very excited about what’s to come over the next couple of years.

—

Stephen Simpson

Was this episode focussed on a particular cast member or a team effort?

– The episode did not start off focusing on one particular member and was very much a team effort. But the second half started to become character focused.

What episode can you most compare it to?

– Red Dwarf wise it had elements of Dimension Jump, Parallel Universe, Only The Good… & The End.

Any stand out performances (from the cast)

– Craig had one or two lengthy pieces of dialogue which he just about managed to do. Danny also had a scene in a different (full body) costume which was obviously very hot inside. In this scene there was a number of smeg ups and Danny was getting visibly frustrated each time.

Any special guest stars or guest performances?

– Yes there were a couple of special guest stars but I’m not at liberty to divulge

Any interesting smeg ups/technical problems?

– On a technical level the recording was pretty decent with no real problems arising. The first smeg up happened with the very first line of the recording and a few more in quick succession.
Chris was great! He was in a very good mood. He was laughing and joking on set but that may also have been partly due to the fact it’s the last recorded episode.

Anything that caught your attention?

– Danny’s full body costume in one scene almost looked like cgi at one stage which was testament to the costume department.

Will there be many special effects?

– This episode wasn’t the heaviest in special effects but as above some of the on screen elements looked computer generated.

Did it feel like an ending?

– It didn’t feel like an ending to me. Nothing was “closed off” if you want to put it that way.